Big Media’s latest lapse can be found in propaganda-style coverage of the Tucson murders. As officials clung to information about the shooter—and there was apparently a lengthy paper trail—Big Media began to blame the right for crimes committed by a man who had no connection, it turned out, to the right. He was closer to the left or to anarchy.

Big Media can no longer claim to be the watchdog a free country really needs. There’s enough hypocrisy among major media outlets to fill a trillion 24/7 news cycles on cable.

These are dark days. Big Media has not only often skewed the truth and cast principles aside, many outlets function as outright political advocates for officials who are calling for policy which will defile one of the most significant amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Before the Tucson tragedy, it was evident Main Street could no longer trust traditional institutions to deliver information. Five major lapses along with numerous others give an idea of the principles of the employees, editors and publishers who gather, write and shape information.